Almond-Lemon Pound Cake

This week I’ve been obsessed with baking Bon Appetite’s Lemon-Almond Pound Cake with limoncello. It’s in the newest issue next to the editor’s note. The cake sounds fabulous, but I can’t justify buying two tubes of almond paste ($12) and a bottle of limoncello for a cake which we’ll eat a few pieces of and get rid of.

Enter Taste of Home magazine. I’d almost given up on the idea of making that pound cake, when I came across what sounded like the perfect alternative to the expensive Bon Appetite cake. It’s smaller, uses more practical ingredients, and the directions are more streamlined.

Fuzz and I made it this morning. It’s excellent! Extremely moist and flavorful even on the first day. Pound cakes always taste better the second day. I haven’t made the topping yet, but here’s a picture of the cake.

Place almonds and sugar in a blender or food processor; cover and process until finely ground.

In a small mixing bowl, cream remaining butter; beat in almond mixture until combined. Add eggs, one at time, beating well after each addition. Stir in sour cream and lemon peel. Combine flour and baking powder; add to creamed mixture alternately with lemon juice. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert onto a wire rack to cool.

For topping, in a heavy saucepan, combine the berries, sugar and lemon juice. Cook and stir over medium low heat for 10 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken. Sprinkle cake with confectioners' sugar. Serve with berry topping.

3) Dont skimp on the creaming of the butter and sugar. If the recipe says to cream for a full 5 minutes, do the full 5 minutes because this helps dissolve the sugar and contributes to the structure.

4) Add eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each egg. The eggs capture a lot of the air that the cake needs to rise. This is especially important if the recipe doesn’t use chemical leavenings (baking powder/soda)

5)Recipe calling for buttermilk or cream cheese or sour cream are usually moister and yield better results.

I LOVE the sound of this cake and I batch my own limoncello for drinking and baking. I’ll have to try it.

Do you have any tried and true tips for pound cake baking? I’m pretty good in the kitchen and my desserts always get raves but the one thing I can’t do it pound cake. It always tastes good but never sets up the way a pound cake is supposed to. I have my grandmothers recipe which is amazing when she makes it. It always looks just like your lemon cream cheese one…perfect…when SHE does it. Mine just end up crumbly!

Anna, your cake looks wonderful. Sour cream does wonders for cakes, I can imagine how moist and tasty it must be.I’ve recently been tagged by a new meme, and I would like to pass it on to you. Would you like to share “your 5 kitchen challenges for 2006” with us?